Written By: Trey S. – Personal OpinionDespite the “it’s great being gay in the United States” mantra, it is a known fact that gay men are dying, and not just because of AIDS. The LGBT culture faces an epidemic of chronic alcohol and drug misuse, fueled along with society’s homophobia. This all plays out in a culture that celebrates obliteration and quick, easy sex.

If you believe that homophobia has somehow just gone away because of the right to marry think again. Take an average 11-year old kid who has just realized he is gay. Like everyone in society you typically grow up believing that you are expected to get married, have kids along with everything else mainstream life entails. You would have learned that being gay is wrong – either form your parents, school, politicians or form religious organizations that condemn you, I mean literally, to hell.

Then you become overloaded with shame and guilt, then you bury your realization. Soon other children recognize and react to you differently. If you’re able and strong enough you weather the bullying and come out of your teens alive and don’t get married, hide away in the church, and most likely come out onto the gay scene.

David Hoyle once described the gay scene as “the biggest suicide cult in history.” Take this into account, gay bars and clubs just buckle under the weight of the unrealistic expectation of doing for gay people what society refuses to. Then a dysfunctional relationship develops with the commercial forces of the gay scene which suggest a constant supply of deeply shamed people who are just searching for validation and love in a shirtless nightclub, sex clubs or saunas. It a wonder any of us make it through sober or alive.

Among all of this is the HIV and SDI epidemic that seems to be taking hold of our culture. As advances in treatment have stemmed the issue today younger men are willing and able to take risks that not long ago meant certain death. How we have become complacent and lazy when it comes to our health believing that just by taking a pill we can continue with our lives. To a certain extent, you are able to live a healthy and productive life, but there has to be a level of responsibility that for some reason we tend to ignore. On top of that there the metal issues that have had a major impact on our lives. You don’t really have to look far to find friends who have had breakdowns, whose partners have committed suicide, or whose lives have been destroyed by depression, alcohol, and drugs, not to mention those have decided to engage in risky sex without thinking of the consequences. Don’t get me started on social media, that’s an entirely different issue.

Now don’t get me wrong not this doesn’t apply to everyone. There are a huge number of gay men living happy, successful lives and most do practice safe sex. This has become a serious issue within the LGBT community; the state and healthcare providers have failed to adequately address the root causes of self-destructive behavior. It’s time we look within our community and begin to address the shaming, hate and racially divided community. Until we face our own internal issue, how can we even think to move forward? As we come off of Pride month, have we learned anything? I think not, once the parades and festivals end we just go back to our negative behavior and nothing has changed.

It’s time to rethink our priorities, to lobby the government to ensure our rights, to come together and once against prejudices within and if anyone, friend or foe, resists, then it’s about time they go out of our way.

The following article is the opinion of the author and does not reflect the opinion of Squirrel News, it's employee's or advertisers.